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Folk ensemble Dearest Home to present free Civil War-era concert

Updated:
10/17/2013 11:40:12 AM EDT

Dearest home

CARLISLE -- The Gettysburg-based folk ensemble Dearest Home will present a free concert at 3 p.m. Oct. 20 in First Lutheran Church, 21 South Bedford St., in observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address delivered in November, 1863.

The group will recreate the Civil War era in period attire by performing authentic traditional American music popular at the time.

Singing with passion, skill and close vocal harmony, Dearest Home members also play the fiddle, banjo, concertina, guitar, bass, piano, reed organ, mountain dulcimer, pennywhistles, flugelhorn, jaw harp and percussion.

Tunes are taken from period sheet music and include several Stephen Foster selections such as "We Are Coming, Father Abra'am" that was featured in the film "Lincoln," a banjo rendition of "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," "The Battle Cry of Freedom," which reflects the Emancipation Proclamation, John Brown's "March," referring to the popular song in the Union about the 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry, and "The Picture on the Wall," which refers to soldiers having their photographs taken before leaving for duty or between engagements. Prepare to join in several sing-alongs.

Dearest Home members are Beth, Margaret, and Stephen Folkemer, Chuck Krepley, Charles Thompson, and Chris Barnabei.

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Since forming in 2011, the group has played for Gettysburg 150th Civil War events including the grand opening of the Seminary Ridge Museum and its Civil War symposium, and at venues including the Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering, Virginia's Waterford Fair, and concert series in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

To hear samples of the ensemble's music, visit http://www.reverbnation.com/dearesthome.

The concert is free but an offering will be taken.

A dessert reception will follow the performance and recordings will be available for purchase.

The church is handicapped accessible.

For more information, call 249-3310 or visit http://www.firstlutherancarlisle.org.